7月14日 善用属灵的蒙恩管道
善用属灵的蒙恩管道
“我们若说是与神相交，却仍在黑暗里行，就是说谎话。”（约壹1:6）
我们要么必须放弃上天堂的盼望，要么必须立定心志，行走在那唯一能将我们带往那里的道路上。若是无法扬起我们情感的风帆，也无法驱动我们的脚步朝着所渴慕的终点前行，那么一切的言语都不过是虚空的喘息罢了。
圣洁使我们有能力与神相交。与神相交是如此美妙，以致许多人即便根本不知道它为何物，也假装自己拥有它。这就如同一个人夸口说自己认识国王，却从未见过国王的面，也从未与他相遇。当一个人声称自己认识主，却又容留不义时，神的灵称这种话为谎言：“我们若说是与神相交，却仍在黑暗里行，就是说谎话。”（约壹1:6）相交植根于联合，而联合则植根于相似。“二人若不同心，岂能同行呢？”（摩3:3）与神相交和熟悉各样蒙恩管道之间，有着天壤之别。一个人可能天天活在蒙恩管道中，却对神仍是全然陌生。并非每一个在王宫里走动的人，都能与王子交谈。
蒙恩管道宛如一条属灵的管道，圣洁的圣徒在那里藉着圣灵向神敞开心扉，白白领受属天的财宝，即更加丰盛的恩典与安慰的浇灌。但不圣洁的心没有信靠，如同封闭的污秽器皿，因此父神无法将祂那纯洁的恩典倾注其中。即使是一个蒙恩的圣徒，若正落在试探的权势之下，在他悔改并胜过那罪之前，他也无法恢复与神亲密无间的交通。
所罗门这样解释：“义人在恶人面前退缩，好像趟浑之泉，弄浊之井。”（箴25:26）当一个圣徒在那恶者面前跌倒并向试探屈服，以致他的灵被污秽蒙蔽时，这话岂不更加真实！若我们尚且懂得，即便是本身有益健康的泉水，一旦被搅浑，我们也不当直接饮用，而是要等它沉淀变清；那么，在一个敬虔之人的溪水尚未因悔改认罪而重新清澈之前，我们怎能指望神来品尝与他相交的甘甜呢？
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：书20-21章，徒1章，
个人灵修：耶10章，太24章
JULY 14, TUESDAY
FOLLOWING SPIRITUAL ORDINANCES
“If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie” (1 John 1:6).
We must either renounce our hope of going to heaven or resolve to walk in the only path that will lead us there. It is vain breath which does not set the sails of our affections and the movement of our feet in the direction of our desired destination.
It empowers us for communion with God. Communion with God is so wonderful that many pretend to have it when they do not even know what it is. It is like the man who brags about knowing the king but never has seen his face or met him. God’s Spirit calls it a lie when a man says he knows the Lord but entertains unrighteousness too: “If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie” (1 John 1:6). Communion is rooted in union, and union in likeness. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). There is a big difference between communion with God and familiarity with ordinances. A man may live with ordinances every day but still be a stranger to God. Not everyone who walks around in the palace talks with the prince.
Ordinances are a kind of exchange where holy saints trade with God by His Spirit for heavenly treasures, an enriched filling of grace and comfort. But because an unholy heart has nothing to trade with God, the Father will not communicate His pure grace to him. Even the holy person under the power of a temptation is unfit to have communion with God until he overcomes the sin.
Solomon explained it like this: “A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring” (Proverbs 25:26). How much more true when a saint falls before the wicked one and yields to temptation, his spirit clouded with impurity! If we know better than to drink from a troubled spring, though wholesome in itself, but wait until it settles and becomes clear again, how can we expect God to taste communion with a godly person before his stream runs clear with repentance for sin?